Effective vs. Successful Managers

Would you be surprised to learn that there is a difference between effective managers and successful managers? 

People in leadership positions often have it ingrained that success and efficacy are one in the same… After all, how is it possible to be an effective manager but not a successful manager, or vice versa? 

Defining Effective Managers vs. Successful Managers

In the 1980s, Fred Luthans, a professor, author, and researcher in the Department of Management at the University of Nebraska, found that the two categories of manager types could exist completely independently of one another. He explored these ideas in a book co-authored with Richard M. Hodgetts and Stuart A. Rosenkrantz titled Real Managers.

The impact of this book can still be felt today. In 2019, the book was re-published as Real Managers Revisited because of its continued relevance in the field of leadership, business behaviors, and team dynamics. 

Based on his mixed qualitative and quantitative data, he came to the conclusion that successful managers, or those that get promoted and move through the ranks quickly, approach their careers very differently than effective managers, or those that have “satisfied, committed subordinates and high performing units.”

More specifically, they choose different ways to allocate their time. 

During their observations of 450 managers, they found the following:

Real World Application

While it’s tempting to strive towards being both successful and effective, Luthans found that only 10% of managers were able to hit that benchmark. So, deciding how you should spend your time depends on what your priorities are. 

A successful leader would be more focused on getting promotions, rubbing elbows with the right people, and “playing the game.” They spend very little time actually making decisions for their teams, moving projects forward, helping with training, and communicating information. 

Luthans gave a sample profile of the typical successful leader:

“I find that the way to get ahead around here is to be friendly with the right people, both inside and outside the firm. They get tired of always talking shop, so I find a common interest– with some it’s sports, with others, it’s our kids– and interact with them on that level. The other formal stuff around the office is important, but I really work at this informal side and found it pays off when promotion time rolls around.”

On the other hand, effective leaders prioritize communicating with their teams and dealing with human resource concerns was key, while traditional management duties and networking were of very little importance. Instead of measuring the quality of their work with the number of promotions they got, they base it on performance, satisfaction, and commitment of the entire team. 

Both how much and how well things get done around here, as well as keeping my people loyal and happy, has to do with keeping them informed and involved. If I make a change in procedure or the guys upstairs give us a new process or piece of equipment to work with, I get my people’s input and give them the full story before I lay it on them. Then, I make sure they have proper training and give them feedback on how they are doing. When they screw up, I let them know it, but when they do a good job, I let them know about that too.”

Luthan wraps up his research by concluding that more effort must be put into learning how effective managers spend their days and finding ways to promote them more often– according to his study, the higher the position, the more often you find a successful manager at the helm instead of an effective one. 

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